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MGR/James Walker « Fender Standard Stratocaster Mexican »
Published on 03/19/04 at 15:00This is the first guitar I ever bought and I purchased it four and a half years ago at Steve's Music Store in Montreal for $399 Canadian or about $275 US at the time.
The playability when I bought the guitar was poor but after I had it tuned up the playability has been excellent. The action is low and there is little to no fret-buzz. The durability has been surprinsingly good for a Mexican made guitar, so far nothing has broken.
Although nothing has broken, there were some defects in the manufaturing process, such as the neck was slighly crooked when it was put on. I had a store fix this. The pickups do not line up with the strings. The fretwire on the neck sticks out on the bottom a tiny bit, so when you run your hand down the side of the neck you feel the fretwire. The whammy bar or trem bar had to be put flush against the body otherwise the guitar constantly comes out of tune (I have abandoned the bar completely). Lastly the pickups are horrid. They sound very empty, tinny and cold, a far cry from the noiseless or Tex-Mex which have a really warm feel. I have replaced two of the pickups with Seymour Duncan little '59er pickups and I am going to get a Tex Mex single coil.
As mentioned above there were some problems in the construction of the guitar but the durability of the instrument has been solid overall.
I have since played many American Strats, Epiphones, and Gibsons. The Mexican Strat is better made than the comparable Epiphones (Les Paul Standard). Two of my friends own Epiphone Les Pauls and have encoutered many parts breaking on them, which I haven't with the Fender. My strat has superior playability to the Epis as well. However, the guitar does not compete at all with American Strats. They now are listed at more than $500 US (compared with $427 when I purchased mine) so the value has decreased. Overall the guitar was a good purchase and represents pretty good value for what I paid. So relative to the value I am rating it 4 out of 5. If you have the money go american, cause there is a world of difference.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
The playability when I bought the guitar was poor but after I had it tuned up the playability has been excellent. The action is low and there is little to no fret-buzz. The durability has been surprinsingly good for a Mexican made guitar, so far nothing has broken.
Although nothing has broken, there were some defects in the manufaturing process, such as the neck was slighly crooked when it was put on. I had a store fix this. The pickups do not line up with the strings. The fretwire on the neck sticks out on the bottom a tiny bit, so when you run your hand down the side of the neck you feel the fretwire. The whammy bar or trem bar had to be put flush against the body otherwise the guitar constantly comes out of tune (I have abandoned the bar completely). Lastly the pickups are horrid. They sound very empty, tinny and cold, a far cry from the noiseless or Tex-Mex which have a really warm feel. I have replaced two of the pickups with Seymour Duncan little '59er pickups and I am going to get a Tex Mex single coil.
As mentioned above there were some problems in the construction of the guitar but the durability of the instrument has been solid overall.
I have since played many American Strats, Epiphones, and Gibsons. The Mexican Strat is better made than the comparable Epiphones (Les Paul Standard). Two of my friends own Epiphone Les Pauls and have encoutered many parts breaking on them, which I haven't with the Fender. My strat has superior playability to the Epis as well. However, the guitar does not compete at all with American Strats. They now are listed at more than $500 US (compared with $427 when I purchased mine) so the value has decreased. Overall the guitar was a good purchase and represents pretty good value for what I paid. So relative to the value I am rating it 4 out of 5. If you have the money go american, cause there is a world of difference.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com